The Arrangement

Chapter 7

AnnaLeigh

Dont trip. Dont trip.

Those words repeated themselves in my ears over and over till I didnt know if it was the shoes or just my nerves making me fear I might fall. I had never had this many eyes on me. Not ever. It was so emotional, walking down the aisle at my wedding, alone. I had never been one of those girls who had grown up dreaming about her wedding or anything but I had always thought my dad would be beside me, walking me down the aisle. But he was miles away, in a hospital bed. In a coma.

Dont cry, AnnaLeigh, I order myself. There are too many people watching. Finally I reach the raised platform. And I take my position across from my finance, the man who hates me. The man who barely knows me but is saving my dad's life - even if he didnt know it. I give him a nervous smile. But he just stares back at me.

The priest smiles at me, then at Christain and then to the crowd.

''Be Seated. We are gathered here today to witness holy matrimony, to observe the commitment of love between AnnaLeigh Maguire and Christain Cartwright..."

And after that, his voice trailed off due to me being lost deep in my own thoughts. I looked at Christain, saw his stormy blue eyes and locked jaw. I saw the stubble that lined his chin, as if he was to cool to shave on his wedding day. Then my gaze trailed down to his tuxedo which I'm sure had been designed by someone fabulous or perhaps it was even custom made. It was jet black, sleek, and it fitted him perfectly. And yet, I would put money on the fact that Christian didnt care about his tux. Or this wedding. Or anything else, really.

"AnnaLeigh?"

The priest looked at me expectantly and I felt every gaze in the room upon me. My cheeks burned. Where were we? What was I supposed to say?

"I do?" I muster and the priest smiles.

And then he turns to my finance, "Christian Cartwright, do you take AnnaLeigh Maguire to be your lawful wedded wife, in goodness and wealth, in sickness and wealth, as long as you shall live?"

"I do." He says, like he had just been asked if he thought the weather was nice, on a sunny day.

"Well then, ladies and gentlemen, we have a marriage. Christain you may kiss your bride."

There were cheers from the spectators and I waited nervously for whatever his move was going to be. I was expecting an air kiss or a handshake or maybe even a slap in the face. But what he did next surprised me even more.

He leaned foward until his lips were almost touching mine and he smiles when he says, "I'm a powerful man. I get what I want. And what I want is to ruin you." And then he kissed me, on the the lips, as my mind reeled and my eyes filled with tears.

When he finally pulled away, he turned and walked away, off the platform ahead of me. He was accepting congratulations from guests as he walked back up the aisle. I couldnt believe how seamlessly he was able to go between breathing fire at me to laughing with everyone else, like nothing happened....

The priest, seeing my tears, patted me on the back. "It is always an emotional day. I wish you the luck of the heavens." He says.

After a second, that I thought I could use, I followed my husband out of our wedding ceremony. And excused myself to go to the bathroom where I now found myself sitting on the cold hard ground, wanting nothing more than to leave. I just couldnt fake smile at anymore people that Mr. Cartwright introduced me to and I was even more tired of accepting congratulations of people I didnt even know. My heart felt drained.

"Anna?" I heard Sarah's voice beside me, I could tell she was worried. "What is going on?"

"Its just...too much." I say.

"What do you mean?"

This was my moment. The moment to admit the truth, to ask Sarah for help. Our eyes were locked and I wanted so badly to let it out. But my mouth was frozen. I couldnt say anything. And she looks down, like she is hurt by my silence.

"Do you want me to go get Christian?"

"No!" I all but shout at her. The moment had passed. "No, I dont think he would understand. I just...its all so new to me."

She sat down across from me. "I get it. I get you. It has to be overwhelming...." She pauses to gather her thoughts. "But the important thing is that you love Christian and he loves you." She leans in to hug me. "Your dad would of loved to be here, Anna. He would of lost it, seeing you all done up in that dress."

"I wish he could of been here." I say hugging her back tightly.

When we pulled away Saraj hesitated but asks, "You do love him, right?"

"Who, Christian?"

She laughs. " Yes. You know the man you just married."

"Yes." I say softly, eyes on the ground. "I do."

"Then let's get back out there." She says as she helps me back up to my feet and guides me back out into the crowd of people. As I watch her move onto the dance floor I make my way over to the bar for a drink of water, tired of all the champagne.

"One more." Christian says from behind me as I am taking a sip.

"One more what?"

"One more dance we need to do." He says. And I can smell the alcohol on his breath. "They want to see the happy couple."

"And they want to watch us dance?"

"I dont ask questions. They are my dads guests, they want us to dance, so we are going to dance."

"Okay." I say ad he grabs my hand and half pulls, half guides me onto the dance floor among the other couples.

When we finished I waited for him to say 'thank you" or anything remotely nice. But instead he just gave me one of his famous blank stares and walked in the other direction.

"There you are, AnnaLeigh. " I heard from behind me and turned to find Mr. Cartwright. He looked as happy as he could be and I was glad that he was enjoying himself. Really I was.

"I'm here." I say smiling at him. " You did a wonderful job with everything. Really, it's all incredible. "

"Im glad you think so." And then he reached into his pocket to pull out a hotel key. "This is to the honeymoon suite. I already gave Christian his. Go, enjoy yourselves. Young love, there is nothing better." He says walking away before I can thank him.

Wanting nothing more to do with the party and not knowing where Christian had gone, I head for the elevatord and once inside, hit the top floor. All these fancy suites, the gourmet food, the top shelf liquor - it all made me feel a little uncomfortable with my choices.

Think of dad., I remind myself. He needs you.

When I get to the top floor, I have to walk for what seems like a mile before I reach the door to my suite.

I slid the key into the door and open it wide so I can fit inside with my dress. Exhaling for the first time all night I close the door and turned on the lights, finally kicking off my shoes.

I was starting to remember I needed someone to let me out of this corset when I hear a male voice coming from another room. Probably Christian, I decide. So I take off towards the room, hoping that, if I ask nicely, he would help me. Not in a s****l way - absolutely not. I felt weird just thinking about that. But on the other hand I didnt want to spend the night sleeping this corset so once I got to the room, I open the door without thinking and...

I gasp. There before me, a few feet away, on top of a king sized bed was my husband. And kneeled over him, her face in the sheets, moaning as the movements came faster and faster, was a tanned dark haired woman. But not just any woman, it was the make up artist who had done my makeup earlier that day.

Christain turned to see who had opened the door. He didnt stop moving or even slow down. He just smiled.

"AnnaLeigh, do you mind shutting the door on your way out?"